Export of 8-bit PCM 4000 Hz samples fail

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peliasson
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:07 pm
Operating System: Windows 10

Export of 8-bit PCM 4000 Hz samples fail

Post by peliasson » Mon Oct 10, 2016 3:06 pm

Hi,

I use Windows 10 and Audacity 2.1.2.

I found information on this forum and elsewhere on the net about how to export 8-bit samples (and change sample rate). Here is what I did:

Starting point:
* I have one track, it is 44 kHz, 16-bit PCM and mono.
Activities:
1. Change sample rate to 4000 Hz using "track -> change sampling frequency" manually writing 4000 there.
2. Export track using "File -> export audio" and choosing "other uncompressed formats" (or similar, I have swedish language) and choose format as
- WAV (Microsoft)
- Unsigned 8-bit PCM


My audio file is less than 2 seconds long. Without (the small header) it should be less than 2x4000 Bytes, ie. less than 8 kB.

However, it turns out as around 76 kB.

I check the header of the outputted WAV using a binary tool (FRHED). Based on specs found online, everything looks good:
Num of channels = 1
Bits per sample = 8
... and more ... until:
Sample rate = $AC44 = 44100
Byte rate = $AC44 = 44100

Even the data chunk size is correct, listed at 77 704 Bytes which makes sense with my filesize of 76kB.

So why is the sample rate not maintained in the export?
It is clear the actual sample rate change down to 4000 Hz does take place, because sound quality is reduce substantially.

Please help!

Regards,
Peter

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 69384
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Export of 8-bit PCM 4000 Hz samples fail

Post by kozikowski » Mon Oct 10, 2016 3:19 pm

Try changing the sample rate with the little window at Audacity lower left.

What is the application? 2KHz sound is not enough for clear voice.

Koz

peliasson
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:07 pm
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Export of 8-bit PCM 4000 Hz samples fail

Post by peliasson » Tue Oct 11, 2016 7:43 am

Thanks, that works! Not so obvious, maybe a candidate for future improvement/change?

The application is old-computers .. Very tight on memory, quality have to suffer. I will test different options to see what yields the best result. Basically I can do max 8-bit/8kHz.

Gale Andrews
Quality Assurance
Posts: 41761
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:02 am
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Export of 8-bit PCM 4000 Hz samples fail

Post by Gale Andrews » Tue Oct 11, 2016 12:44 pm

peliasson wrote:Thanks, that works! Not so obvious, maybe a candidate for future improvement/change?
We do have a Manual that might have told you http://manual.audacityteam.org/.

To search it you can bookmark this https://www.google.co.uk/search?&q=tool ... tyteam.org - just change "toolbars" in the search box to what you are looking for.

Do you want to "vote" for choice of sample rate when you export?


Gale
________________________________________FOR INSTANT HELP: (Click on Link below)
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peliasson
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Oct 10, 2016 1:07 pm
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Export of 8-bit PCM 4000 Hz samples fail

Post by peliasson » Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:33 pm

I definatelly vote for a choice of sample rate during export. Default may still be project setting, but I would prefer default to be that of a single track (when only a single track is exported and its samplefreq differ from project).

Thanks
Peter

Gale Andrews
Quality Assurance
Posts: 41761
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:02 am
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Export of 8-bit PCM 4000 Hz samples fail

Post by Gale Andrews » Tue Oct 11, 2016 2:51 pm

peliasson wrote:I definatelly vote for a choice of sample rate during export. Default may still be project setting, but I would prefer default to be that of a single track (when only a single track is exported and its samplefreq differ from project).
Thanks. I added your vote: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Featu ... .2FExports.


Gale
________________________________________FOR INSTANT HELP: (Click on Link below)
* * * * * Tips * * * * * Tutorials * * * * * Quick Start Guide * * * * * Audacity Manual

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